BTC Sessions
New Law Creates ‘Giant Surveillance Map’ of Every Citizen | Dr. Michael Geist
- Bill C-22 would mandate metadata retention for up to 12 months and create language potentially allowing encryption backdoors, raising constitutional concerns under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- Metadata collection reveals far more than message content—location, contact patterns, timing—creating a "surveillance map" the government acknowledges could track populations in real time.
- Signal and other encrypted services have stated they cannot operate in Canada if forced to retain metadata for a year or break encryption, potentially withdrawing entirely from the country.
- Five Eyes intelligence sharing means American data could be swept into Canadian surveillance nets; the US does not mandate metadata retention in the same way Canada is proposing.
- Canada's "AI for All" strategy and privacy commitments directly contradict the surveillance expansions in Bill C-22, undermining both digital sovereignty and economic competitiveness.
- A social media age ban for under-16s is forthcoming via digital safety legislation; it requires universal age verification (ID, biometrics) and focuses on users rather than platform accountability.